


what if we were inhuman (and one of us was still learning to be human adjacent)

by SkellyMyDude



Category: HLVRAI - Fandom, Half Life VR But The AI Is Self-Aware
Genre: Gen, M/M, Multi, Nightmares, arts and craft timeeee, excited for whenever they get around to splitting the tags, gordon has one but it isnt described, gordon has phantom pains, ill. probably be tagging as i go, stickers!!!!, watermelon, whenever a hlvrai tag for gordon comes up ill switchit im so sorry hl people
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-26
Updated: 2020-11-05
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:00:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,670
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25528588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SkellyMyDude/pseuds/SkellyMyDude
Summary: Sometimes Benrey did things Gordon didn’t understand.Not even in a supernatural way, necessarily. More just…strange. The sort of things that…hm, they weren’t bad, really? Just. Confusing, and strange, and the sort of thing that really highlighted the Fact that Benrey was Benrey.Gordon even made a list, written in the notes of his phone and stored in his head.
Relationships: Benrey/Gordon Freeman, Benrey/Tommy Coolatta, Benrey/Tommy Coolatta/Gordon Freeman, Tommy Coolatta/Gordon Freeman
Comments: 54
Kudos: 577





	1. lists of things that really gordon you should try figure out what to do with, i mean honestly,

**Author's Note:**

> hdghs i edited this tonight and ended up adding like 300 more words,
> 
> im planning on this hopefully being a multichapter! i was gonna wait til i was mostly finished writing rather than posting it now but then That Fic was posted and i decided to post the first chapter now to help with pushing it down,,,,

Sometimes Benrey did things Gordon didn’t understand.

Not even in a supernatural way, necessarily. More just…strange. The sort of things that…hm, they weren’t _bad_ , really? Just. Confusing, and strange, and the sort of thing that really highlighted the Fact that Benrey was Benrey.

Gordon even made a list, written in the notes of his phone and stored in his head.

List of Things (Benrey don’t look this isn’t even your phone)

Thing One; Drinking water out of a bowl

At the time, there were cups available. Many, _many_ cups, collected from a variety of thrift shops over time. There were plain white ones, bright red ones with text, ones shaped like animals and even one with little feet! There was an entire shelf just for all the ones with puns, and Gordon prided himself on his collection.

So when Gordon had asked what he was doing using a bowl and not one of the many good cups he had, and Benrey had seemed genuinely confused and said that he was. Drinking? Did people not drink water Gordon, Tommy drank soda and that was basically the…the same thing—Gordon had been, very slightly, offended. He responded that _no_ , Benrey, water and soda are not the same thing—to which Benrey interrupted that they were both liquids though…and clear?

Gordon had to pause, and think, and then stop thinking and tell Benrey no, that—look, anyway, you—you can’t drink water out of a bowl, Benrey, you use a cup, here just. Tip the water into one of the cups, drink it that way—look this one, do you want a, uh…a bunny one? Or a normal glass, take your pick—not the horse one though that one’s Joshie’s, maybe—look, just take whatever dude just don’t use a fucking bowl?

Thing Two; Hugging a waiter after they brought him food

This one Gordon had heard second-hand through Tommy. Apparently, Tommy had taken Benrey to a restaurant as a fun outing. Which, apparently, it was! Benrey had spent the entire time before ordering staring very hard at the menu, and Tommy had too so that was all fine, and he had ordered and Tommy had ordered and that was all fine too—Tommy rambled about the Beyblade anime he had found on Netflix, and Benrey listened and then said how he had watched the first episode and the? Unicorn? Pegasus? That the Beyblade made in the big fight at the end was so—so cool, dude like how it waah, and then it did the whooshhh, and the, uh.

The waiter came, and gave them their food, and Tommy thanked them, and then—Benrey stood up and hugged them.

The waiter had looked very sad when dropping off their food, and Tommy suspected the hug was what had broken the dam. Just when Benrey had started to pull away, they had clung on tighter and started sobbing. Benrey, clearly not quite knowing what to do, had remained holding them until they had pulled away, and the rest of the night had been spent with Tommy talking gently with them about what was going on while Benrey picked at his cold spaghetti bolognaise.

Tommy had said it was very touching, although a little awkward in the moment? Definitely not what he had been planning that night, but. Well.

Thing Three; Blinking like a cat

This was, in itself, not a particularly bad thing. Nothing on the list was, really. The slow blinking was mostly just…confusing, for Gordon, and he didn’t know what to do with it. Benrey didn’t really…blink very often, as if he had forgotten to more than anything. When he did, it was very deliberate, and Gordon noticed almost every time.

Once, Gordon blinked slowly back, just to see what Benrey would do.

Benrey had frozen, eyes wide. And then he had just—disappeared. Not for very long, but it was still a shock at the time.

Less than a minute later he had reappeared to hug Gordon very tightly in response, before clipping back to the couch.

Gordon didn’t know what to do with that, either.

Thing Four; Licking a cold piece of metal in winter

He got his tongue stuck, of course. The strange thing about this one was that after getting stuck he just…kept walking. He had been holding the spoon in his hand, and whatever the reason was for him licking it, he didn’t do anything to undo the damage that was a spoon stuck on his tongue. Gordon, however, had stopped where he stood, specifically to stare and then run to catch up and put his hand on Benrey’s shoulder. That was when Benrey had gone still, completely freezing for a second before turning to Gordon inquisitively. The silence hung awkwardly in the air for a moment, as did the spoon from his mouth.

Gordon had had a long day that day, and decided not to say anything for once. He couldn’t stop thinking about it for a week, adding it to the list.

Thing Five; Accidental stealing

Stealing in itself wasn’t much of an issue or a strange thing to Gordon. All of the science team as well as Benrey stole things, often from big corporate-owned stores and banks—they all knew those places could handle the damages and, also, burn in hell.

Once, however, Gordon went shopping with Benrey normally, like a normal person. No stealing. It was relatively relaxed, Benrey walking around and picking things up to stare at while Gordon picked out the ingredients for their next dinner with Tommy. It was the first time Benrey had come along with him, and it was going pretty well.

When Gordon reached the checkout isle, Benrey joined him with a watermelon in his hands, then disappeared the next time Gordon turned around, presumably to put the melon back. …He was still gone when Gordon finished paying, and didn’t appear again until Gordon found him standing in front of the car. The melon was still in his hands.

Gordon stared at the melon. Gordon stared at Benrey. Benrey looked back. The melon didn’t look at anything.

Gordon asked, delicately, where the fuck Benrey had gotten that melon from? Definitely not from the _store?_ The one they had decided they _weren’t_ stealing from this time?

Benrey simply responded with a ‘huh?’ before turning back to stare at the melon. He had knocked on it a few times, and smiled at the sound.

Thing Six; Never wearing shoes anywhere

While Benrey did…sometimes wear shoes, it was only ever when he had a dress-code to follow. Gordon had noticed that, unless he was specifically asked to wear shoes, Benrey just…didn’t bother.

This would be fine, if it weren’t for the fact that he wouldn’t wear shoes to the store, or the beach, or the woods. He’d wear socks, lots of different kinds in lots of different patterns and never matched to each other, but when it came to wearing shoes it was like the idea of shoes even existing just. escaped his mind. It worried Gordon, even when Tommy had told him that it was fine! Benrey just didn’t like the feel of shoes, and he didn’t need them because he wasn’t human!

How exactly it was more comfortable to wear socks in the rain than socks and shoes, Gordon would never understand.

Thing Seven; Sitting in cupboards

Once, at three in the morning, Gordon woke up from a nightmare.

He had woken up to a bitten tongue and a throbbing pain in an arm that no longer existed. He knew he couldn’t be in the dark, he knew his nightlight was not bright enough, and he knew he was hungry. Obviously, there was a solution to this. He had walked into the kitchen, phone light bright at his feet, quickly turned on the lights, and screamed.

Benrey had also yelped, and tumbled out of the cupboard in surprise before clipping himself back up and slightly out of sight. He was so small, none of his limbs stuck out, and in the shadow of the cupboard the glow of his eyes was a stark difference. Gordon, already stressed, had squeaked out a ‘what-‘ before pausing and then, tensely, asking Benrey what the _fuck_ he was doing in the cupboard? He just blinked slow in response, then asked if he uh, did he have some…some scary dreams? Some spooky dreams, nightmares? Need some uh…some…tea? …Hug?

Gordon had sighed heavily, relaxed just a little, and nodded.

The tea was nice.

…The hug was nice too.

Thing Eight; Eating things that shouldn’t be eaten

This, specifically, was relating to edible things. Things that were edible, but should not be eaten alone, or mixed together. For example, soy sauce. Gordon cooked a variety of things, some of them involving soy sauce or rice vinegar, or any general base cooking ingredients. Walking in on someone chugging a bottle of said soy sauce, however, was an…experience. Wrestling it from the grip of someone very confused was also an experience. Initially it was weirdly easily to start sliding it from Benrey’s grip, as he just froze and went lax the second Gordon’s hands touched his. As soon as he processed what was happening, however, things stopped working in Gordon’s favor.

Gordon had a theory. That theory was that Benrey didn’t know Gordon was trying to take the soy sauce, and rather thought he had simply started an impromptu wrestling match for…some reason. Coomer was probably a highly influential variable.

The result was a half empty bottle of soy sauce back in the fridge, a bruised face on Gordon’s part, and a bruised ego on Benrey’s, as far as Gordon could tell. He had climbed into the cupboard afterward and turned away while Gordon was explaining _why_ he couldn’t just. drink soy sauce? Like dude its so unhealthy, it’ll wreck your guts, not sure which ones but its definitely not great even if you _are_ an alien you can’t just—Benrey interrupted with a firm note of soft yellow to deep blue.

Gordon had taken a photo for Tommy to translate, then sighed and turned to start making dinner.


	2. arts n crafts can be intimate and a nice way to spend time with the ones you care about actually

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gordon thought about the list often. Often enough for him to feel the need to reference his notes and explain them to Tommy in an effort to understand what, exactly, was going on.
> 
> Well…less of an explanation and more of…a vent, than anything, if he was being honest. Tommy was aware of this, even if he didn’t say so, simply nodding along and flicking the fidget spinner in his hands absent-mindedly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tommy chapter!!!!!  
> (also i did art for my own fic kinda idk how to link stuff but its on my art blog calamarispiderart)

Gordon thought about the list often. Often enough for him to feel the need to reference his notes and explain them to Tommy in an effort to understand what, exactly, was going on.

Well…less of an _explanation_ and more of…a vent, than anything, if he was being honest. Tommy was aware of this, even if he didn’t say so, simply nodding along and flicking the fidget spinner in his hands absent-mindedly.

“Gordon you—you have to remember that, that Benrey isn’t…human, he’s, Benrey? He didn’t—he doesn’t know how to do things like we do.” Tommy paused, thinking for a second, then added a “Yet. He’s—he’s learning.”

With a sigh, Gordon ran his hands down his face.

“Look I know Benrey’s… _Benrey_. I just. Don’t know what to _do_ about him. He—he—did you know last night I was getting some cereal, and he—”

“At—at three in the morning?”

“At, yeah at three in the m—” Gordon paused. “Wait. How…did you know that.”

Tommy shrugged, and held up his phone. “Benrey messaged me.”

“…right, Benrey messages people things, yeah. Like. Word things? He used words?”

It was here that Tommy paused, looking at his phone and holding the fidget spinner still.

“Does. Do they…not use words for you Gordon?”

Gordon froze, and Tommy watched as his face twisted between expressing immense confusion, and extreme annoyance. It was a very funny expression, and Tommy stared very hard at his fidget spinner in an attempt not to laugh. Gordon was fumbling at his phone, pulling up the messages from Benrey before brandishing the phone at him as if it were a sword. Tommy smiled awkwardly, and looked down at the screen.

He blinked, and rubbed his eyes. It was…very. Burnt. The image on the screen was filtered to almost complete incomprehensibility, with red and brown edged text muddled over the top. There was…a shadow? A person? With bright glowing eyes, maybe holding a…hot dog? Or a burger? All the colors were intensely saturated and dark, what was clearly a speech bubble next to the shadow reduced to a bundle of pixels and static. The text overlaid said, very simply: ‘HAVE BURG.R?’

Tommy…didn’t know what to think.

Gordon clearly didn’t either, the very first message in response just being ‘?????’, and then a clear and succinct ‘What the fuck does this mean Benrey??’ following after. There was only an exclamation mark from Benrey, and the text conversation seemed to end. Not for Gordon, if the number of messages afterward said anything. They seemed to say a lot of things, but it was mostly just confused rambling so Tommy elected to ignore it and stop reading.

The two of them were silent for a moment, Tommy trying to think of what to say while Gordon tried to remember what he had been talking about. He looked down at his phone, squinting very hard, before lighting up. He quickly flicked over to his photos before brandishing the screen at Tommy yet again.

It was the cupboard in Gordons kitchen, a shadow that was clearly Benrey huddled up in a tight ball with his back to the screen. A soft glow lit up the darkness, softening everything with gentle color. The sweet voice flowed together, not single separate orbs but a swirling mist of light. It looked happy, safe, and Tommy smiled a little as he mumbled colors and rhymes to himself.

Gordon watched, a small smile on his own face now, as Tommy thought. He saw the man’s face brighten, eyes gleaming with a gentle glow, before it faded and another awkward smile flicked across his face.

“What—uhm. Hm. I-I don’t. I don’t think I can…tell you? This one, Gordon? Uh.” Gordons face fell, and Tommy scrambled to explain. “Not—not because, not because its bad or, or anything! Just. It. uhm. Its, its kind of. Per...sonal? Its. Benrey should tell you. What it means, not. Not me,” Tommy grimaced slightly, and fumbled the fidget spinner between his hands as he spoke.

Gordon’s face fell along with his hand holding the phone, eyes drifting to the bright blue of the spinner. He opened his mouth, then closed it again. The two sat there silently for a moment.

Just a moment, of course.

“Are—are you sure you cant just—”

“Yeah. I’m sure.”

“…ok.” Gordon sighed, and pocketed his phone. He patted his knees awkwardly, before leaning forward and patting Tommy on the shoulder. “Thanks anyway Tommy.”

“No, no problem Gordon! Uhm,” Tommy paused, and then his eyes lit up, the light creating a gentle glow. “Do you, would you want to see my sticker collection? We can make some to add to the wall, too!”

The physicist smiled, and took Tommy’s hand when he offered it.

“I’d love to Tommy.”

-

So making stickers was hard.

Not—it wasn’t. Not, easy, just. Difficult. Layering tape cleanly without getting fingerprints or accidentally folding it was. Difficult.

Tommy was clearly experienced, layering printed images and tape like a pro. While Gordon struggled to get the tape stuck to his hair _out_ of his hair, Tommy started doodling little figures in marker and cutting them out. Music played softly in the background, an eclectic mix of styles that gave Gordon moments of whiplash every now and then. The tape was still in his hair.

Gordon eyed the scissors in the table thoughtfully.

“Gordon, uhm. You…you have tape…stuck. To your hair.” Tommy was smiling slightly in amusement, although it was clear he was trying not to.

There was a harsh sigh, and the shorter man threw his hands in the air in frustration, the sounds coming out of his mouth not forming into words. Tommy turned away, wrestling his face out of a grin before turning back and asking, very seriously, if Gordon would like him to try get the tape out. Gordon blinked, before looking away and saying that yes, actually, that’d be. Nice.

The glow in Tommy’s eyes was bright again, and his eyes themselves crinkled in the corners. His smile grew back, and he walked around the table to Gordon. Gordon watched as his hands raised, pausing for a moment before gently resting over where the tape was stuck. There was a gentle tugging, Tommy starting to mumble slightly under his breath as he worked at pulling it away.

Gordon closed his eyes, and hummed. It felt nice. Relaxing. He leaned forward a little, slightly toward the man next to him.

His eyes snapped open as his hip connected with the sharp edge of the table, and Tommy jerked back suddenly.

“Ma—maybe sit down?”

Gordon did, and slumped a little as Tommy kneeled to his height and continued to pick at the tape. His eyes closed again, and Gordon’s thoughts fuzzed away as he drifted. This was nice. Tommy was nice, doing this for him. He felt fingers card through his hair, and hummed softly in return. Tommy said something, a question, and Gordon only mumbled, hearing a gentle laugh as his thoughts faded into sleep.

When he woke up some hours later, it was to find his hair had been braided, a few smaller ones interspersed throughout. Tommy was sitting next to him, cutting away at some paper. He was moving carefully, so as not to jostle Gordon. Who was. Leaning. On his shoulder.

Still drowsy, Gordon gasped quietly. He slowly sat up and ran his fingers over the braid, not seeing Tommy’s disappointed look as he moved away.

With a smile, Gordon thanked the taller being and checked the time, grimacing at how late it was. The two of them talked softly as they gathered up Gordons things, Tommy slipping some stickers into an envelope and then into Gordons hand.

Then, he slipped his own hand into Gordons, and told him to close his eyes. When they opened, it was to find himself outside his apartment. He blinked again, too tired to question it, and unlocked the door.

They hugged, and Gordon went inside.

Tommy stood on the doorstep for another moment, before sighing and disappearing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> bbbbhere yall go!!!! i have a vague plan for this to be multichapter and so far ive gotten a ton of words out of. two sentences of plan HDGHSGD  
> i hope you all have a wonderful week!!!  
> my main tumblrs calamarispider! say stuff at me if you want,


	3. nintendogs is such a good game i want to play it now aaaaaa

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Gordon woke up the next morning, it was to eyes staring right into his own. Eyes that widened, before falling backwards with the rest of the body that held them. There was a loud thump.
> 
> Gordon blinked, very, very slowly. He squinted, thoughts melting into some semblance of order with the same speed as treacle on a relatively cool day. Which is to say, not very fast at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok its, been like four months and ive just remembered i had an entire finished chapter of this BDDHSB--i dropped interest in hlvrai for a short bit, but ive just been stuck back on this hyperfocus so i might try continue this? ill try hdgbhs  
> i went through and slightly edited parts of this chapter, but i most likely missed some parts. sorry for the mess--i hope its at the very least an enjoyable one

When Gordon woke up the next morning, it was to eyes staring right into his own. Eyes that widened, before falling backwards with the rest of the body that held them. There was a loud thump.

Gordon blinked, very, very slowly. He squinted, thoughts melting into some semblance of order with the same speed as treacle on a relatively cool day. Which is to say, not very fast at all.

“…ben…rey?”

There was no response. He leaned over the side of the bed to stare at the empty ground where Benrey…should have been. In theory.

Mind still full of cotton, Gordon just grumbled to himself wordlessly before turning over and promptly falling back to sleep.

—

Gordon woke up feeling…not tired. For some reason.

Usually when he slept, it was restlessly, or such a deep slumber he overslept and woke feeling groggy. There was no winning, whether he woke up early or late. This time, however, he felt like he could actually get up straight away, rather than sitting in bed for an hour—he didn’t, but…it was a nice feeling.

After absently reading through the reviews of a random app, Gordon decided to get up and do something. He walked into the kitchen to find the envelope of stickers he and Tommy had made resting on the counter. Benrey was on the couch a few feet away, the connected living rooms TV displaying some game.

Was. Was that…nintendogs? Benrey was muttering as well, small cheers seeming to match with the puppies tricks.

Gordon watched with the vague, accepting incredulousness of someone constantly surprised by things that they really should be used to by now as the being played a DS game on a TV. Quietly, he leant against the counter.

Oh, those commentators were _definitely_ partners.

“…yo”

Gordon startled, slipping forward on his elbow and then off the edge of the counter. He went to catch himself with his other arm, but—he’d forgotten to put his prosthetic on.

Everything went very fast, and very slow at the same time.

Gordon closed his eyes tight, preparing himself to hit the ground face-first.

Then, he caught on something.

He opened his eyes, slowly, to find himself very, very close to the ground—and, for some reason, a pair of mismatched socks.

Blinking, Gordon processed the rest of his surroundings. The counter was next to him. Benrey was in front of him, crouching slightly and holding him away from the ground by his armpits. It was…very awkward.

Gordon flailed a bit and accidentally hit Benrey in the knee, then dropped fully to the ground with a thud. Air whooshed out of his lungs, and he groaned a bit before rolling over instead of getting up. Benrey stood over him, fiddling with his hoodie strings.

“you’re a, a clumsy boy huh? Fell right off the counter, little clumsy boy.”

“Hey I am _not_ little, Benrey. I’m like a, a full...half a foot taller than you dude, you don’t—”

“oh, mm. stand up.”

“What?”

Benrey sighed dramatically, holding out his hand to help pull the shorter man up. And he _was_ shorter. By a lot. Benrey stood over him at a solid seven feet—just a little bit shorter than Tommy, but far taller than Gordon’s comparatively short six feet of height.

Gordon gaped up at him. “Oh that is _not_ fair at _all._ ” He kicked gently at Benrey’s shins as the taller being smirked down at him. “Get, down here dude, you can’t, you don’t get to be taller than me—”

“but I’m…I am…taller than you, though.” Benrey paused as Gordon glared up at him, before feigning understanding.

“…what does that mean Benrey. Why are you looking at me like that, what’s—”

Benrey picked him up.

Carefully, but in that way one would carefully pick up a cat, with their only reference being long-cat in particular.

He started saying something too, but Gordon wasn’t processing words anymore. The only thing he _was_ processing was that his _feet_ were not touching the _ground_ and Benrey had _picked him up and holy SHIT._

He. He didn’t know…how to feel? But _fuck_ if he wasn’t feeling right now.

“uh. Bro? you, uh…Gordon?”

Gordon, still staring at just the general…everything of what was going on? Didn’t respond for a long moment. Then, eventually, he said in very simple terms:

“…huh?”

Benrey stared at Gordon, and shook him a little bit. At this, the man snapped out of it, flailing wildly for a moment before accidentally kicking Benrey in the stomach. Benrey immediately regretted holding Gordon as if he were long-cat.

The two of them both dropped to the floor, one in pain and the other very literally. Somehow, Gordon didn’t land jarringly on his feet and instead landed on top of Benrey, further pushing the tall being over. The two of them lay on the floor, dazed, for a long minute.

“Well. That was stupid.”

“Mhmm,” Benrey’s hum of agreement sounded. Pained. Gordon scrambled to get off of him.

Benrey pulled himself up, and Gordon resolutely turned around and walked to the fridge to pull out a bottle of milk. He poured himself some cereal. Benrey stared blankly at the wall. After an awkward few seconds of just…standing there, Benrey turned and walked back to the tv.

Gordon heard the sound of a fake crowd start to clap, and Benrey cheered.

—

It was a good three hours before Gordon remembered the stickers.

He _had_ been planning to get them out after Benrey had finished playing nintendogs, but then…that, happened, and Gordon had retreated to his room like a coward and forgotten to grab the envelope on his way.

So now he was standing in the kitchen. Benrey was still on the couch, seemingly just. Staring at the blank screen. Cool.

The envelope was very well sealed. Gordon carefully picked at the edges of the flap, trying to peel it open without tearing it.

It tore.

At the sound, Benrey started and sat up, turning his head like an owl to stare in Gordons direction. Gordon very studiously stared at the envelope and not Benrey’s head facing backwards. The being’s eyes had lit up, slitted pupils helping to display as much soft red as possible. After a second of processing however, the pupils became wide circles, the red just a thin line around the edge.

Gordon watched from the peripherals of his vision as Benrey twisted back to look less…upsetting, and walked over to the counter.

“Wh. Whatcha got there? Sss. Fraud? You stealing?”

“What? No, I—its stickers, look—” Gordon finally got the envelope open, and flipped it over to tip the collection out onto the counter. “Me and Tommy made them last night, we didn’t make—what, money? Cash? You think me and Tommy made fake money last night?”

Benrey paused for a long moment, staring at the small pile of stickers as he processed.

“…counterfeit…? How can stickers be counterfeit, that doesn’t make sense. You can’t pay for stuff with stickers, they—they call it sticker price on the cars at the car place where you buy cars but. It doesn’t…work like that.”

“Whaaat are you talking about man.”

“Yknow, the, they sell _cars,_ and they have a sticker price on the cars but you don’t _pay_ in stickers you pay in _cash_.”

“…the car dealership? Place? Thing? God that’s weird to say why is it called that?”

Benrey just shrugged, before pushing the stickers around a little. He paused, and picked one up with a small grin.

“Oh yoooo is this Joshie?”

Gordon cut off his quiet muttering to himself and looked up, pulling Benrey’s hand towards himself thoughtlessly to get a better look at the sticker in question. It was hand-drawn and stylised, Joshua sitting on a horse with the reins in one hand and a can of his all-time favourite drink (peach ice tea) in the other. It was clearly made by Tommy, Gordon lacking in the fine motor skills for something like that. It was…cute.

“Oh! Tommy made that one, it’s for Joshie for when he comes over next—I made one for him too, but I’m not sure where it is here…”

Smiling, Gordon continued to study the drawing—the sticker itself had been made by Tommy as well, if the clean tape layer was anything to go by.

…it sure had been quiet for a full thirty seconds.

“…Benrey?”

Gordon looked up, then looked up again because _wow_ was Benrey tall now and—oh. The taller being’s eyes were wide, nearly all pupil as he stared down at…his hand. His hand that. That Gordon was…still holding.

Gordons eyes widened as well, and he quickly pulled away and coughed into his now-closed fist.

“TH—S—so. Tommy also! Made a sticker for you!” Gordon paused, very pointedly staring in any direction that wasn’t towards the being next to him. “And. I. also made one. For you.”

Benrey’s eyes slid up to stare directly at Gordon’s face, and he blinked slowly.

Gordon didn’t know what to do with that-! Instead! of doing something with that, he scrambled to find the aforementioned stickers, and slapped them down on the counter. They were _gently_ picked up by the other.

The other, who looked down at the little pieces of layered paper and tape and promptly disappeared. A single note of gentle pink-song floated in the air, slowly fading to nothing.

Gordon blinked, again, before muttering to himself in confusion. It was just…the ps2 logo and stuff?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i was reading through this earlier and its like you can. tell im touchstarved and projecting HBDBDGHDB  
> honestly, me from four months ago??? BIG handshake still im so sorry :pensive: /lh  
> i do have!! part of the next chapter written up, so if i can focus enough im hoping to be able to write more!! i didnt exactly plan this story because i. always forget to,,,? so well see.  
> i hope you guys enjoyed this chapter though, and have as good a week as you can,,,!!!

**Author's Note:**

> (sunlight yellow to blue like a mandarin fishes frill—I love you, but dude, chill,)
> 
> kudos and/or comments are appreciated!!!
> 
> i hope you all have a good week!! thanks for reading hdghs


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